1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a material application means and more particularly to a material application means adapted to apply innerliner material to a tire building drum. Specifically, the instant invention relates to a transfer and application means used in conjunction with a cutter means to cut a predetermined length of innerliner material from a continuous roll of innerliner material and apply said length to a tire building drum. The instant invention employs means for accurately centering the innerliner material within the transfer and application means and means for accurately controlling the amount of overlap of the ends of the innerliner material applied to the tire building drum.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Means for material application are old in the art as evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 3,157,542 to Trevaskis which relates to the feeding of sheets of rubber to a former, U.S. Pat. No. 3,728,181 to Simmons which discloses a rubber material fed from a roll past a cutter onto a drum, U.S. Pat. No. 3,909,338 to La Blonde et al which discloses supplying an elastomeric strip to a bead ring past a cutting unit, U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,811 to Enders which discloses a tail retractor and tray feeder in the form of flotation trays including automatic mechanical systems for feeding the tacky rubber material to a drum, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,898,116 to Katagiri et al which discloses a support having vacuum in the central portion to hold a carcass sheet onto a conveyor and air pressure on the side to float the side. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 147,644 to Miller filed May 17, 1980 discloses a means for automatically applying a tire component to a tire building drum including means for centering and stretching the component. This application is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Although some of the art discussed above does disclose means for applying a rubber material to a tire building drum, none of the above noted art discloses a means for applying an innerliner to a tire building drum wherein the need for a splice gumstrip is eliminated. Further, the final guide system employed by the instant invention to move the stock to the center of the applicator allows for stock width measurement and precise centering without the edge distortion caused by the guiding systems of the prior art.
There is, therefore, a need for an apparatus which is readily adapted to be used in conjunction with an automated tire assembly system wherein a portion of innerliner material may be cut from a continuous roll of such innerliner material and applied to a tire building drum in such a fashion as to eliminate the need for a splice gumstrip and further be applied in such a manner that allows for stock width measurement and precise centering without the possible edge distortion of known guiding systems. The instant invention provides such a means allowing for the precise application of innerliner material to a tire building drum.